December 2005
Why not grants instead of loans?
Did Pakistan have the option to seek relief from donors in debt servicing instead of asking for condition-loaded ‘soft’ loans and grants? This is a question which many in Pakistan raised after the government claimed credit for securing $1.9 billion grants and over $4bn soft loans from a conference of international donors.
Critics say that it was not a donors’ conference but a “lenders” gathering who were out to create business opportunities for their companies from the earthquake disaster. Pakistan secured debt relief on $11 billion repayment after the 9/11 incident plus trade concessions from the US and the EU. It was a price demanded by the military rulers of Pakistan for becoming a partner of the US and developed countries in their war against international terrorism.
Pakistan launches crash program for wheat crop in quake-hit areas
Pakistan has launched a crash program for wheat crop in a 43,000-acre land in the earthquake-devastated areas of North West Frontier Province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Agriculture Minister Sikandar Hayat Khan told the Lower House of Parliament on Thursday that under this program, seed and fertilizer have been provided free of cost to farmers with the collaboration of the United Nations aid agency.
In response to a question by an opposition lawmaker Samia Raheel Qazi, he said a total of 28,000 acres of farming land in NWFP and 15,000 acres in Kashmir were devastated by the quake.
Technorati Tags: Kashmir, United NationsAga Khan’s AB139 Fleet Added Civil Support to Military Relief Efforts
The Aga Khan Development Network’s (AKDN) fleet of four AB139 helicopters have been extensively used in earthquake relief operations in Pakistan’s northern regions.
Delivered between late 2004 and spring 2005, the four AB139s were acquired by AKDN to operate in the remote and mountains regions of South and Central Asia to ferry personnel and material for the construction of the three University of Central Asia (UCA) campuses. Initially based in Islamabad and Dushanbe Tajikistan), in the aftermath of the earthquake all four were brought together at Islamabad base.
Technorati Tags: Aga Khan Development Network’sPrivate sector to provide building material
The Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) directed the provincial governments to ensure the provision of building material through the private sector and also to train workers for the reconstruction of the quake-hit areas.
This was stated by the ERRA, while issuing details of the housing reconstruction programme on Wednesday.
The government has decided that the financial and technical assistance will be provided to the earthquake stricken people for the reconstruction of their houses. It was also decided that reconstruction will be taken on the basis of the seismic zoning of the area and houses that are earthquake resistant and serve futuristic needs of the people will be constructed.
Technorati Tags: ERRAAid in Emergency
Aid in Emergency is an account of a humanitarian aid trip to the earthquake effected area of Northern Pakistan by seven doctors between 9th till 16th November 2005.
Emergency Aid (EA) was set up by Mr. and Mrs. Khalid Sadique in October 2005 after seeing the effects of the Pakistani earthquake. The aim was to get medical relief to those that need it most.
EA is a volunteer based organization. It is funded through volunatry donations and is in the process of setting up a charity for that purpose.
EA also works in conjunction with local aid agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the Pakistani military.
New York Medics Earthquake Relief Effort
NYC Medics works to rapidly deploy expeditionary emergency medical disaster response units to overwhelming catastrophes worldwide; operate in a self-sustained, versatile capacity independently or part of a larger relief effort; ensure continuity of relief and recovery efforts post-deployment through coordination with other relief agencies and public awareness campaigns.
NYC Medics are currently trying to raise money to aquire and send shelters, heaters and supplies to the people in the areas in or around Sewanj, Chinari, Kathai, and NorDijhia.
For details visit NYC Medics web site.
Thousands still without basic shelter two months after quake
Thousands of earthquake survivors are still without shelter more than two months on. The earthquake, which killed over 80,000 people, left an estimated 3.5 million survivors homeless. The exact figure of homeless survivors is not known, said Darren Boisvert, media and public information officer for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“The problem is that we’re still finding people who don’t have sufficient shelter so we can’t accurately estimate how many people there are left,” Boisvert said. The Pakistani government estimates that 480,000 houses need to be rebuilt in Pakistani-administered Kashmir alone.
Technorati Tags: International Organization for Migration, KashmirMSF Choppers Available for NGOs!
MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) Holland has offered the humanitarian community access to its two Muzaffarabad based A350 ‘Squirrel’ helicopters. Requests can be made by NGOs, to conduct assessment flights in the affected area and for transport of personnel. However, agencies should note that the ‘Squirrels’ have a limited cargo capacity of approximately 350kg.
Any NGO or aid agency wishing to avail themselves of this offer may contact the MSF Holland logistics team on 0300 852 6616 or via e-mail: msfh-abbottabad at field.amsterdam.msf.org, to obtain further details.
Source: South Asia Quake Help via UNJLC Team (Pakistan)
Technorati Tags: Muzaffarabad, SquirrelRehabilitation of At Least One Affected Family
Project PEACE Welfare Society is pleased to submit this request for your review.
We look forward to your partnership in our cooperative efforts to provide rehabilitation to at least one Earthquake affected family of 5 members. You can save 5 lives by just spending $2100 or as much as you can or anything else.
The End of the World, Part III
High above the valley city of Muzaffarabad, the view is at once terrible and awesome. Stretching for miles along both sides of the turbid Jhelum River is what’s left of a major city — in every direction piles of rubble and dust and glass, still hiding thousands of corpses, with all the standing structures giant deathtraps mined with fatal cracks. Above all that, on a piece of exposed earth on a mountain plateau now home to a sprawling tent city of displaced persons called Tariqabad, a young man shows me his new home. His eight-member family’s tent is on the edge of a dirt slope. There is no plastic sheet on the ground, no blankets, nothing. The family simply sleeps on top of one another in their clothes, their only possessions. At the first rainfall, I’m guessing, their floor will turn to mud and they will all slide some 1,500 feet down the cliff in the middle of the night. I ask about that.
Technorati Tags: Muzaffarabad, Jhelum